Aikman Drive, Belconnen, at the pedestrian crossing between Ginninderra College and Canberra Uni. I'm in the on-road cycling lane, riding next to two lanes of cars coming off a green light into a "form one lane" (FOL) with a ped (zebra) crossing about 5M past the end of the form one lane. It's a bad design - the ped crossing was put in place to stop students from an accomodation block getting hit by cars when trying to cross the road towards the campus. Mr POBSO on the other side of the road is coming off a curved ramp with a 90 degree turn onto the road. He starts off slowly... then hammers it over the crossing. I was watching the whole thing unfold from my vantage point of being able to see over the tops of the cars, but the cars in the left hand lane had little visibility of what was coming. Cars in the FOL and left lane suddenly had to cope with a car just before the ped crossing slamming the brakes on... cars going left and right trying to avoid rear-end collisions as they went from 'head checks while merging' to 'everything stopped'. I, luckily, was further back, so avoided being hit by the car that swerved into the bike lane.

The really stupid part? Mr POBSO had detoured off a shared pathway - and after crossing the road, he cut across the grass/dirt to rejoin it where it came out from the tunnel under the road. The way he rode actually takes longer than just staying on the shared pathway.

And I could feel the 'eyes of blame' on my back as we all moved off again - once again all cyclists being tarred by the same brush because of yet another idiot.

Mulger bill wrote:With oncoming side by sides. If you have time and there's no following riders, shift to the granny, stop the bike then hold it with it standing vertically on the rear wheel. Think about it...

I keep left everywhere, driving, on stairs, escelators etc. it's just become a habit and l don't even think about it now. The problem with the community bike rides is that unfortunately a few people go on them not knowing the rules for bike riding. I haven't read them myself, but it's common courtesy!

I keep left everywhere, driving, on stairs, escelators etc. it's just become a habit and l don't even think about it now. The problem with the community bike rides is that unfortunately a few people go on them not knowing the rules for bike riding. I haven't read them myself, but it's common courtesy!

g-boaf wrote:Keep left unless overtaking signs might be good on bike paths. .

all the pathways around olympic park have centre lines with direction arrows on them, makes no difference to people at all, cyclists, walkers etc. probably the worst are groups of retired men out for their walk on a weekday, they seem to be proving something by blocking the path to everyone

Had one of those moments this morning.... shared pathway, ped crossing at lights, a string of cyclists coming across and one of them was so busy chatting to his mate he completely missed that I was coming the other way and pulled out next to his mate! Head-on missed by both of us swerving, but he came pretty close to taking his mate out.

Cranky old bloke coming down off Silverwater Bridge this morning, heading east... I'm glad he was going real slow because I wouldn't have had time to avoid him otherwise. I suggested that corner needed some care taken (because I normally thunder through there at 35kmh). The run down off the bridge has no right of way at all, it's a T intersection and I honestly can't avoid anyone coming down the hill at any speed so I've stopped worrying about it. I wasn't aggro about the suggestion to take care, and I received a "I know about corners, I've been riding for 50 years"... I've seen this bloke a few times on the path, and he must have been having a bad day, but sometimes you just have to take the feedback on the chin and admit that you aren't doing the smart move. If I wasn't sore from digging yesterday I might have been going 5kmh faster and another bike coming towards us would have meant he would have been hurt BADLY.If you're reading this - letting other people take responsibility for your safety is a really bad idea.

Xplora wrote:Cranky old bloke coming down off Silverwater Bridge this morning, heading east... I'm glad he was going real slow because I wouldn't have had time to avoid him otherwise. I suggested that corner needed some care taken (because I normally thunder through there at 35kmh). The run down off the bridge has no right of way at all, it's a T intersection and I honestly can't avoid anyone coming down the hill at any speed so I've stopped worrying about it. I wasn't aggro about the suggestion to take care, and I received a "I know about corners, I've been riding for 50 years"... I've seen this bloke a few times on the path, and he must have been having a bad day, but sometimes you just have to take the feedback on the chin and admit that you aren't doing the smart move. If I wasn't sore from digging yesterday I might have been going 5kmh faster and another bike coming towards us would have meant he would have been hurt BADLY.If you're reading this - letting other people take responsibility for your safety is a really bad idea.

Did he ping his bell? Here in Brisbane, people seem to think that bell-pinging cures the need to give way, not to mention the obligation to overtake safely I'm starting to think there's some road rule known only to those in on the conspiracy. Maybe one day I'll see the fnords...

hopefully the groups I came across were not normal, but the behaviour in the spring cycle event was awful. single riders ignoring the bike lane to block the road. Dozens going round both sides of cars and 2 riders (just 2 out of 20 or more) stopped at the lights then proceeded through the red. The policeman who saw lights changing and decided to meander across the road on his mtb, in front of cars that had a green arrow the whole time and had to stop to avoid him. Have to say the event did a lot to ingrain the view of cyclists as a menace on the road

A steepish downhill section of ‘shared’ path; trees concreted into the middle of it and a wall on one side. I am rolling slowly down on the left side. There is a major pedestrian crossing ahead. A lady in white kind of hesitates; I slow to a virtual stop and smile-nod (smod, that should be a word) for her to move across in front of me and onto the crossing as the light is green. As I roll slowly forward, someone t-bones my back wheel. They fall with a loud crash. It is a woman on a laden mountain bike. She has ridden across the crossing and straight into my back wheel at right angles. To be honest I am stunned. I stare at her so for a while. Finally, I resolve on, ‘are you okay?’ She struggles up muttering. I can’t help myself, ‘you should watch where you are going, you know.’ I set off. Then I hear from some metres behind me, ‘it wouldn’t have happened if you weren’t riding so slowly.’ I can’t believe it.

‘So you crash into my rear tyre and fall off and it is my fault, is that right?’

‘Just go on if you are going to turn into an a..hole,’ she retorts, among other things.

Yesterday night, 7:45PM, driving along a 60km/h main road (Barclay Rd for those of you playing at home, passing Muirfield High School). Sun's set for over half an hour so it's getting quite dark by now. I'm in the far left lane, traffic is light so I'm close to 60 on a slight downhill slope going around a moderate right hand bend in the road. Suddenly I see an object approaching me, in my lane. That can't be right...

It's an idiot teenager, maybe 16, blonde, on his little black BMX, wearing a black backpack, of course no lights. Forget if he had a helmet - probably not if I can remember his hair colour. He's in my lane (the far left lane on a road with two lanes each way) travelling in the wrong direction, in the dark. He just weaves past me on my right in the empty lane without a care in the world. As I drive on, I watch him in the rear view mirror and he's weaving back to his left - staying on the wrong side of the road - as another car approaches from behind me.

I was too stunned to get on the horn (actually I'm quite calm by nature so I rarely, if ever, resort to the horn). Just don't understand why you'd be so plain, stinking dumb to ride on the wrong side of the road weaving in and out of cars going at 60km in the opposite direction, in the dark. Especially when your side of the road is pretty much free of traffic. He'd be lucky if he got home that day.

To the MTB rider who went throught the Red light near Milsons Point this morning . . . awesome effort . . . NOT To the 4 roadies, 2 commutes and the MTB waiting for the Green, that he had to weave through and past . . . awesome effort . . . ABSOLUTELY

The world is round, so what seems like the end may actually be the beginning.

burger wrote:To the MTB rider who went throught the Red light near Milsons Point this morning . . . awesome effort . . . NOT To the 4 roadies, 2 commutes and the MTB waiting for the Green, that he had to weave through and past . . . awesome effort . . . ABSOLUTELY

How was you ride

If you can't explain it simply, then you don't understand it well enough.

burger wrote:To the MTB rider who went throught the Red light near Milsons Point this morning . . . awesome effort . . . NOT To the 4 roadies, 2 commutes and the MTB waiting for the Green, that he had to weave through and past . . . awesome effort . . . ABSOLUTELY

Glad I am not the only one who notices some of these (minority) idiots around North Sydney. New to cycling and it has helped my awareness and anticipation on the road 10 fold.... Two recent incidents I saw recently:Idiot # 1. Running a red on West and Falcon Streets, didn't see the tradies ute. While walking to work I heard a loud screech and looked over to see the ute end up on the wrong side of the road, a metre from the traffic light pole. Lucky it was early and no traffic coming the other way. Moron yelled something at the ute to slow down and hightailed it.

Idiot # 2. Runs red onto Pacific Hwy from Alexander St Crows Nest. Rides in the bus lane until it ends. Next red light splits up the middle and sits between the two north bound lanes. Green light and everyone drives off... Moron now in right lane. Then without warning cuts into the left lane (where I am driving) and I nearly collect him. Gave a little toot of the horn to let him know it wasnt cool - I get the finger!

Nice.

As a newbie and being more alert I can now see why some peoples perception of cyclists arent terrific. I think I will stick to riding the M7 for now!

Riding along the bikeway/shared pathway behind Shaw Park today and I notice a bunch of people up ahead walking towards me so I slow right down. A guy came past me and slowed right down aswell. He's ringing his bell and some don't even move. Eventually most of them get out of the way but they went left and right onto the grass forcing us to ride through the group of about 15 people and by this time we're both at a crawl. Still the people at the back aren't paying attention/looking at the ground. She looks up and freezes directly infront of the cyclist who then decides to step to the side just as the cyclist starts to fall over sideways. Literally there was a big giant sign a few metres away and along the path saying keep to the left

Lukeyboy wrote:Riding along the bikeway/shared pathway behind Shaw Park today and I notice a bunch of people up ahead walking towards me so I slow right down. A guy came past me and slowed right down aswell. He's ringing his bell and some don't even move. Eventually most of them get out of the way but they went left and right onto the grass forcing us to ride through the group of about 15 people and by this time we're both at a crawl. Still the people at the back aren't paying attention/looking at the ground. She looks up and freezes directly infront of the cyclist who then decides to step to the side just as the cyclist starts to fall over sideways. Literally there was a big giant sign a few metres away and along the path saying keep to the left

Peds don't seem to be required to pay attention or stay left, and they do seem to have the right to curse at cyclists who made them abandon their side-by-side walk. Even going 8km/h is too fast according to them.

I've had those types too, you have to yell for them to take note.

I love the M7 because there aren't many of them on there.

Yesterday, was following someone on a very old road bike, and I tell you what, disgusting. He was spitting every 400-500 metres - which is absolutely filthy. I was keeping to the right so avoided it. Screaming out every few hundred metres. If that wasn't bad enough, the visuals were worse. Tiny running shorts leaving nothing to the imagination (flapping in the breeze), running singlet, old 80s style helmet... The only thing that saved the day was that he was going reasonably fast.

This morning crossing the road in the CBD, lady on big step-over commuter bicycle had to swerve to avoid the totally oblivious young pedestrian ahead of me.

I used to get this when i took the long way along the riverpath along the Shoalhaven river with selfish old women not wanting to share the path with you (shared path) and they know your coming becauseyou see them turning their heads to see if your still coming. The Air Zounds horn fixes that though, and wayward riding mates...

Pedestrians are going to walk side by side to have conversations on share paths. Its a far greater imposition on pedestrians to not walk side by side for their entire journey than it is for a cyclist to slow down and ask 2 or 3 pairs to make space during their journey.

I used to get this when i took the long way along the riverpath along the Shoalhaven river with selfish old women not wanting to share the path with you (shared path) and they know your coming becauseyou see them turning their heads to see if your still coming. The Air Zounds horn fixes that though, and wayward riding mates...

Airzound totally inappropriate for share paths imo. Pedestrians have general priority, and you are required to stop to avoid a collision, which means your bike should in-hand speedwise on approach to any pedestrians. You should not be using a 100 decibel device to move people out of your way.

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